THE PROPOSAL
by Saeshmea
Summary: Someone has proves of Clark's secret and makes an expensive proposal to the Kents not to expose their son. Will they accept it? What does this proposal consist on exactly? Will anyone help them? / Review, please
1. Chapter 1

**The proposal - 1 **

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"NO" Jonathan yelled out firmly.

"We have no other option, Jonathan" Martha replied desperate.

"We do" and he raised his arm to grab his father's shotgun from the top of the corridor's arch.

"No, no…" she muttered following him to the entrance "I won't let you do that, Jonathan…"

"Why not? The bastard deserves a bullet on his head"

"Because I didn't get married with a killer" she shouted.

"I didn't get married with a whore either" he replied provoking her to break down into tears.

He embraced her and whispered "I'm sorry" to her ear. "I didn't mean to say that, I'm sorry" He added.

"We knew" Martha started talking after calming herself down "…that we would have to sacrifice ourselves for Clark's secret one day or another" She broke the embrace but stayed close, very close to her husband.

"But this is an expensive sacrifice" he whispered while her fingers played with his shirt neck.

"But it's the only way" she declared putting an end to their argument "If you kill him, they'll send you to prison and… I don't want you to leave Clark and me alone… we're a family, Jonathan… But if we accept the deal, we'll still be together tomorrow"

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><p>That evening, while Jonathan was telling his son his mother would be spending the night at Metropolis with her father; Martha was coming into a fleabag hotel of the city alone, carrying a bag with her.<p>

After midnight, the wheels of a car woke Clark up and he approached the window to see who was coming. A cab had parked in front of the house and his mother came out wearing a long coat. "Wasn't she supposed to come on the morning?" he thought, worried that something could have happened, so he kept looking.

Before the cab had gone, his father came out of the house still wearing the same clothes he wore during the dinner. Clark used his hearing power to listen to them but, they shared no words… Martha stood still on the fresh snow until Jonathan reached her and they melted in each other's arms.

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><p>"Don't let me go" Martha sobbed, almost whispering, after they came into the house. "Stay close to me tonight…"<p>

He dried her tears and she shivered… and without saying anything, he held both her hands and took her to the sitting room. They sat down on the floor, in front of the fire place… Jonathan leaning his back on the couch and Martha on her husband's chest; his arms rounding her sweetly and protectively until the day came out and Clark's steps coming from upstairs warned them that it was breakfast time.

"We should stand up" Jonathan told to his wife.

"I wish we could stay like this for the rest of the day"

"I wouldn't have any problem on doing that but if we don't want Clark to learn what…"

"I'll prepare the breakfast" Martha said standing up on a quick move.

"I can do that" Jonathan offered himself.

"No… I… I want to keep myself busy"

Clark noticed his mom was weird, so he guessed she'd have an argument with his granddad last night and that was the reason why she'd came back earlier. After he'd left to his classes, Jonathan went to do his chores and Martha stayed in the house baking some muffins she carried to the van later.

Then he looked for Jonathan to tell him she was leaving. She found him behind the barn, chopping some wood with such anger on every hit that the pieces felt next to her feet.

"Sorry" he apologized leaving the axe on the ground.

"It's ok" she said "I understand how you feel" there was a silence and then she smiled and told him "I'm going downtown to take some baking to the Talon, I'll be back soon"

"Martha, you have all the right to stay home, to lie on the bed, to be upset, angry…" he said "You don't need to show me how strong you are" he said, with his hands showing her the mess he'd done with the wood "We need to get this off our chest"

"I just want to go on with my daily routine" she answered "That's all I need" she repeated like trying to convince herself, and then she left.

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TO BE CONTINUED…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Special thanks to Kudos' review... I'd liked to reply it privately but he/she reviewed anonymously. I'd like him/her to know that his/her words caused a special impact on me that no other review had done before. It was the best written and most polite review any reader had ever sent me and it made me want to write. Thank you.

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><p><strong>The proposal – 2<strong>

**.**

"Mrs. Kent" a young woman's voice said "Mrs. Kent, are you alright?"

Martha came back from her thoughts and realized Lana was standing in front of her handing the money for her muffins.

"Sorry, sweetheart" she smiled taking the bills.

"Are you ok? You look pale… Would you like me to call Clark or Mr. Kent to pick you up?"

"No… thanks Lana, I'm fine" and she left before Lana could say anything else. On her race to the door she crashed with someone she didn't care to look at, she needed some fresh air, some peace, some silence…

"Hello Martha" that voice said from her back when she reached the car. She got so nervous she couldn't find the keys… He grabbed her arms, and made her turn around.

"Leave me alone" she begged "You promised you would disappear"

"You left without saying goodbye" the mysterious man said approaching her more, trapping her between his chest and the car.

"Hey, you" a familiar voice said from behind, suddenly grabbing the guy's jumper and pulling him back "I think the lady asked you to stay away"

"You don't understand… she and I are good friends"

"Is this guy a friend of yours, Martha?" Lionel Luthor asked to her, and she replied shaking her head. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to insist on you running away from here, sir" he added, removing his jacket so the man could see the gun he hid on his trousers.

"Alright, alright" the man said swinging his eyes from the gun to Martha "You shouldn't have done this" he threatened her before leaving.

"Thank you, Lionel" she muttered, still shaking while looking for her keys into her handbag again.

"It's always a pleasure to give you a hand, Martha" he said "I think you lost this" and he handed her the keys she was looking for. Then she realized he was the one she crashed with when she was leaving the Talon, and that she might have lost her kiss then.

"Oh, god… I'm sorry!" she exclaimed taking her hand to her forehead "I'm so sorry… I left in such a hurry I didn't even realize it was you who I… Sorry" she kept saying while taking the keys.

"It's ok. If we hadn't crashed, I wouldn't have followed you and that man would still bother you"

"Yes…" she showed a little smile "Yes, I guess you're right… I guess it was meant to happen" she joked opening the door of her car and leaving her bag inside "Thank you again, Lionel" she said, more calmly now, before going into the van.

"Martha" he stopped her when she was going to close the door "You did know that man, didn't you?" he wondered, and noticed by her gesture he was right, just she wasn't going to admitted loudly "Look, I… I know we haven't been in touch since you stopped working for me… I know Jonathan doesn't really like me but… any kind of trouble you are in, I'd like you to you can count on me" He then closed the door and looked how she drove away without saying anything else.

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><p>That afternoon, when Clark came back home he found his father setting the table while his mom was finishing the dinner.<p>

"Hi sweetheart"

"Hi mom" he said.

"I thought you said you weren't coming for dinner" his father told.

"I did, but I stopped by the Talon before going with Chloe"

"What happened? Did you argue with Lana?" Martha wondered.

"No… actually… She told me she saw how some guy attacked you this morning and Lionel Luthor helped you" Martha felt she was missing some breathe, and the confused look from her husband didn't actually helped… "I got worried, so I stopped by to make sure everything was ok"

"Everything's fine" she said with a very low voice "That man" she was feeling dizzy while trying to come up with something to tell her son and not worry him anymore "…he… he tried to steal my purse but… fortunately Lionel noticed and the guy ran away"

"Why didn't you call me? Did you report it?"

"I didn't wanted to bother you with that, nothing really happened… and I didn't go to the sheriff because I wasn't stolen at the end so, there was nothing to report" she was using all her strength to keep herself calm, not to show any tear, any shaking hand… in front of her son "Honey, I'm fine, ok?" she smiled and held his hand "Why don't you go to have fun with your friends… it's Friday night… you shouldn't be at home with your folks"

"Alright…" he kissed her cheek, said goodbye and left.

"That's not what happened, is it?" Jonathan, who had been standing at one side watching at their interaction in silence, asked after their son was gone.

Martha raised her look at him willing to tell him everything but all of a sudden she fainted.

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><p><em>She was walking to the hall in a hurry with her hands covered on flower while Jonathan was making the same race from the sitting room. They giggled at each other when they noticed they both were going to open the door at the same time, so Martha stepped back and let her husband's clean hand to do it.<em>

"_Hello, can we help you?" Jonathan asked to the short guy standing at the porch._

"_Hello Mr. and Mrs. Kent… My name's Jeff Miller and I have a proposal to discuss with you"_

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><p>"Oh God, Martha… Thank god you woke up, I was about to call an ambulance" her husband said while she came back from the beginning of her nightmare a little confused.<p>

"What happened?" she looked around, she was still in the kitchen, but she was lying on the ground with a strong headache and Jonathan was kneeling right next to her "Did I faint?" she asked using his help to stand up.

"You did… and you scared me… Now, take your coat, we're going to the hospital"

"No, I'm fine" she lied "Really, please… I just need an aspirin and to lie down for a while, ok?"

"You just fainted, Martha… you were unconscious for a few seconds… You hit your head against the floor… A doctor should see you"

"No, no… no hospitals… I'm fine, I just… I just got stressed having to lie to my son, that's all…"

"You sure it was that? What if it happens again?"

"Look, if… if it happens again, I promised I'll do whatever you ask… But for now, let's just go to bed" she begged holding both his hands and pulling him on the way upstairs.

"What about dinner?" he gazed the table set.

"I'm not hungry anymore" she muttered "come on"

"Alright… but you tell me what happened this morning"

"I will"

Jonathan followed Martha to their bedroom, handed her an aspirin and some water and laid next to her on the sheets. Feeling protected by his embrace, she told him everything when she was finished she turned around to look at him eye to eye.

"Make love to me tonight" she said.

"Are you…" but his words were broken by her lips in a passionate kiss, while her hands looked for each of her shirt buttons.

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><p>"<em>This is crazy!" Jonathan exclaimed.<em>

"_I understand it's something you have to think about, Mr. Kent… So I'll leave you the address and whenever…"_

"_There's nothing to think about!" Jonathan shouted angrily punching the table._

"_Sweetheart, please…" Martha begged._

"_No! You can't come to my house and tell me some weirdo wants to spend a night with my wife… It… it's just crazy!" Jonathan kept saying not willing to put any effort to belief the situation. _

"_Your son's wellbeing depends on this" Mr. Miller told pointing an envelope Martha was holding with her hands "You shouldn't forget it…"_

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TO BE CONTINUED…


End file.
